HomeAway Launches Luxury Rentals

ByBrooke Porter Katz

Culling the inventory for a high-end getaway on HomeAway—a vacation rental company that lists more than 775,000 properties in 171 countries—just got a little less overwhelming. The Austin-based company has launched Luxury Rentals from HomeAway, a curated collection of villas, estates, and the like geared to customers looking for a more deluxe experience.

HomeAway has tapped the luxury travel publication Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report to evaluate existing listings using a 75-point screening process, which ranks everything from location to the linen thread count. So far, more than 900 rentals in 40 countries on the site qualify for the new luxury label, mostly in the U.S. and Europe. As of now, you can only book 92 online and 163 accept online payments, which means travelers still have to communicate directly with the managers or owners to confirm reservations.

Brooke Porter is an Associate Editor at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter at @brookeporter1.